Character Analysis
Gimli is played for laughs; he's the probably the most crusty-looking good guy in the entire trilogy, but he's got a heart of pure gold. Whether we're laughing at his expense when falls off his horse, as he angers the huorns in Fangorn, huffs and puffs along as he tries to keep up with Aragorn and Legolas, or as he tells funny anecdotes of the mysteries of dwarven reproduction, Gimli always manages to put a smile on our face… despite all of the war and death around him.
In fact, in a pretty morbid joke, he and Legolas play a game of "who can kill the most orcs." It's clear that, while The Two Towers deals with heavy some heavy subject matter, it's still a PG-13 fantasy. That's why, even in the heat of battle, as Aragorn and Gimli struggle to defend the keep of Helm's Deep, we have a moment where Gimli, despite telling everyone in Moria that "nobody tosses a dwarf!" whispers sheepishly to Aragorn, "toss me." "Don't tell the elf," he adds.
Not only is this funny, but is shows Gimli's loyalty to his friends and their cause. Dwarves are known for being a very isolated and selfish people, but Gimli races over the plains of Rohan, fights orc after orc, and even allows himself to be tossed like some kind of hobbit… or bean bag. As the trilogy progresses, Gimli grows more and more accustomed to dealing with these outsiders on their quest. He now has as much invested in the wars of elves and men as the rest of them.
Gimli's Timeline